Tag: Midterm

From 21:08-21:44, Spike Lee places us in Bleek’s gravitational pull. Lee strategically uses the circular motion in Bleek’s trumpet practice and places him in the center to signify his internal psychology. Through the movement of this sequence, Bleek confronts his audience with his intimate relationship with his instrument, breaks the fourth wall, and acknowledges the audience with intention and directness that translates to a power dynamic that disintegrates as the movie continues. Continue reading “Bleek’s Gravitational Pull”

Given Spike Lee’s past usages of physical spaces as microcosms of larger societal issues, Inside Man’s bank and all power dynamics within said bank deserve analysis. It was no mistake that Lee referenced Do the Right Thing when “Sal’s Famous Pizza” was brought to the hostages.

Dalton Russell gave his hostages the same costumes as his co-conspirators, attempting to create confusion for the police because it was hard to tell the “good guys” from the “bad”. However, in one scene, after the police get hold of a sikh hostage, they make no effort to treat him fairly even when he’s mask-less. This speaks to a possible larger point Lee is making about citizens in relation to police. Are we faceless in the name of state power?

This post is about embracing brotherhood and where are black males allowed to show intimacy and have difficult conversations in School Daze and today.

Not too long ago, actor Michael B. Jordan and director Ryan Cooler appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair for their role as “disrupters revolutionizing art, film, and fashion”. In the photo, Jordan extends his arm and uses his hand to hold the back of Coogler’s hand. The image is also to promote solidarity between brotherhood. Black masculinity does not just mean large muscles and deep gazes. Yet, the image received backlash, especially from black males on twitter before the tweets were removed. These tweets emasculated the men, such as:

“Why is he holding his head like that anyway? What type of unity does this suggest? It does look a little suspect. Looks almost like he has his head headed towards his **** How about a simple handshake?” -@Mizzlee_atl

Spike Lee’s characters are often times complex and ambiguous. Think of Sal from Do The Right Thing, or Delacroix from Bamboozled. Lee’s characters have warped or misguided views based on their history and upbringing. Despite these views, audience members can connect with them on a certain level because Lee redeems their misgivings by shining light on their humaneness in certain aspects of each film. Two characters that really stood out to me in Mo’ Better Blues are Moe and Josh Flatbush. These characters stood out not in their mistakes or their humanity, but rather their mechanical and almost cartoonish nature.

Lee’s opening shot of the Flatbush brothers in front of a computer is fitting as they are shown to be robotic and only care about the bottom line (28:02).

Follow this link to listen to Thomas M., Danielle F., Nisaa J., and Nicholas M.’s commentary on an important scene in Do the Right Thing which provides an entree into discussion about Spike Lee’s portrayal of both men and women in his films.

Please turn on English subtitles for transcript of inaudible commentary from 0:50 – 2:24

Oscar Micheaux is credited as the first African American film director. He was part of a movement in film, which was called ‘race films’, a somewhat condescending and reducing title for an ambitious and formidable school of film. Micheaux’s films stand alone as race films that actually dealt with issues of race and in … Continue reading →

We’ve all heard this phrase used in earnest before. It’s supposed to downplay or excuse something racist said by a white person by demonstrating their personal affinity for black people. It is meaningless and an extension of the racism expressed in their previous statement that they are now trying to cover up with the excuse … Continue reading →

Spike Lee has a firm place in the debate of the obligation of the black artist. Lee sits as an unwavering force in this discussion because he is a black artist making art about black people for black people at an unprecedented scale with an unprecedented audience. Get on the Bus, for several reasons, … Continue reading →

In Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon addresses the appearance of blackness in black men and what it means to validate your black, male appearance. In lieu with that the idea that seeing black males, evoked memories of violence and following, feelings of fear in white people, I believe that there would have been an effort to […]

When I first watched Get on the Bus, I laughed out loud when I saw Isaiah Washington’s character. The laughter come from a place of being confused about his identity as a black gay republican and a vague memory of watching Grey’s Anatomy when I was in middle school. I found it interesting that in […]

This essay, by Bill Benzon, is one of the most sophisticated readings of Mo’Better Blues. I found it very resourceful for my final project. In this essay, he discusses; The Cultural Psychodynamics of Racism Discipline of Jazz: From Nature to Culture Destructiveness and Creativity: The Albatross of Romanticism The Blues in the Night Jazz as […]

TW: Sexual Assault The two aspects of School Daze that really rubbed me the wrong way were its handling of queer issues and its handling of sexual assault. In School Daze, Lee sought to portray HBCU life in all of its complexities. However, in doing so, I feel he used the issue of sexual violence and gay identity […]

As I mentioned in my last blog, I really wanted to do a film analysis of When the Levees Broke, but since I wasn’t sure how to go about it, I looked up some guidelines from a few websites. This film analysis website had the easiest step-by-step guideline, so I’ll be using it for my blog, but I’ll […]

I found Spike Lee’s 1996 film Get on the Bus to be an interesting, although not satisfying, look at Black American masculinity in its multitude of forms in the mid-1990s. One aspect of the movie that stuck out most for me was the depiction of queer (in this case, gay or MSM) identity. I was particularly […]